Thread-controlling mechanism for knitting machines



April 20, 1926. 15,311,917

K. NE EL I THREAD CONTROLLING MECHMIsk', FOR-KNITTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 20 1926. 1,581,977

K. NEBEL THREAD C DN'IROLLING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec, 5. 1924 A ril 20, 1926. 1,581,977

K. NEBEL.

THREAD CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES I Filed Dec. 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet :5

A ril 20, 1926. 1,581,977

7 K. NEBEL THREAD CONTROLLING-MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACFiiNES -F iled Dec. 5, 1924 4- Sheets-Sheet A;

la sg Patented Apr. 20,1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KARL NEBEL, OI PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYEVANLA, ASSIGNOR' TO MERRILL HOSIERY COMPANY, OF HORNELL, NEW" YORK, A GORP ORATIOEN OF YORK.

TH=READ-GONTROLLING MEGHANIS M FGR KNITTING MACHINES.

Applicationfiled December 5, 1924., Serial No. 754,144.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

. tion. The object, of my invention is to improve Be it known that I, KARI. .Nnnnn, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented a Thread- Controlling lylechanism for Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specificathe thread controlling, mechanism of knitting machines, and especially that of the.

straight or flat type machine, commonly employed in the manufacture of full fashioned hosiery.

In this type of machine, the thread is Wound inthe form of a cone and placed. in

any convenientv position on the machine. The thread must be drawn from the cone, vertically at a'point axially aligned with the center of said cone and some distance thereabove. here a plurality of such cones are used, such as in color or striped Work, these threads .become tangled, When an agitation of the atmosphere arises in the vicinity of these threads By the use of my invention, the t'angling of the threads is avoided. In the place of the commoncone, I employ flanged spools which rotate in a form of trough. Each thread is Withdrawn in a substantially horizontal plane and short leads, from the spools to thetension mechanism, replace the necessarily elongated leads employed when the verti al cone is used. V

The details of construction of my inven tion are more fully described hereinafter and are clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a transverse.sectional view through a knitting machine in a more or less diag 'ammatic form, with my improved thread controlling mechanism applied there- O: I

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section of my invention;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation thereotyand Fig, 4 is a plan view. V Asshown in Fig. 1, a knitting machine a of the flat type is equipped with a striping attaclunentb, and my. improved thread con- I angle bar 32'ttor' the purpose oi drawing a trolling mechanism, as indicated generally at 0. v 5

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, my device comprises brackets 1 and 2, Which are secured to the frame of the knitting machine,

are secured to the brackets 1 and2.

are mounted in the troughs 4, 5 and 6 respectively.

2 v it felt faced roller 11 is mounted, between the brackets 1 and 2, on a shatt;12 journaled in said brackets, and extending beyond the bracket 1, as illustrated at 12 Whereon is mounted a ratchet Wheel13.-

A pawl l-t engages the ratchet Wheel 13 and is pivotally mounted at the upper end 01' a lever 15 secured to a shaft 16 suitably mounted in the knitting machine.

On the shaft 16 are secured a series of striping fingers 17 designed to place a thread around. certain of the needles 18 for .the purpose of producing a stripe walewise [of the stocking be ng knltted.

purpose,the shaft 16 is rocked at the proper time by a cam 19 secured to the main cam shaft 20. of the knitting machine, through a lever 21 and a link 22 as shown. in Fig. 1.

A secondicam 23, secured to the shaft is Operative'ly engaged by a cam roller 24, on a lever 25, pivotedf tothe frame of the machine at 26. The opposite end27 of the lever has pivotal ly secured thereto a link 28, the opposite end of said link being pivotally connected at 29 toa lever 30. The

said lever 30 is secured to one end of a shaft 31" extending between the brackets 1. and 2 and beyond the said brackets as shown in Fig. 3, and to one of these extensions the lever 30 is secured.

Angle bars 32 and 33 extendbetween and The said angle bars 32 and 83 are perforated for the passage of threads 03 from the spools 10 to the striping fingers 17.

Arms 35-35 are secured to the end extensions of the shaft 31" adjacent the outer sid'esof the brackets l and 2. Extending between and secured to the free ends of the arms .35 is a rod 36, designed to engag the threads m adjacent the upper side of the For this 1 through the chain of elements above described.

A rod is provided to guide the thead a: from the angle bar 33 to the fingers 17, as shown in Fig. 2. The said rod is mounted at its opposite ends in fingers 41 l-1 which are pivoted to the brackets 1 and 2 respectively, at 43. A spring 44: acts to keep the said rod in its normal position with the fingers =11 in engagement with stop pins on the brackets 1 and 2.

There are occasions during the process of knitting a stocking, when it is desirable to raise the fingers 17 to the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 2 and for this reason the rod 4:0 is mounted as above described, that it may be moved out of the path of the said fingers 17.

The spools 10 are formed with a core 10 and side flanges 10*. The thread in is wound on said core 10'" between the flanges 10 -10".

The spools 10 are placed in the troughs l, 5 and 6 with the peripheries of said flanges 10 in contact with the rods 33, forming said troughs.

The threads a from the spools 10 of the trough 4 are led over the shaft 31, those from spools of the trough 5 are led over one of the rods 3 thereof, and those from the spools of the trough 6 are led over the rod 3 of said trough. All the said threads :0 then pass under the rod 36 and through the perforations in the angle bar 32, thence over the outer side of the roll 11; thence through the perforations of the angle bar '33, thence over the rod 40 to the fingers 17.

As the shaft 20 is rotated to operate the needles 18 to knit a course of stitches, in the usual manner and by mechanism forming no part of the present invention, the striping fingers are passed rearwardly between certain of the needles 18, shogged sidewise therebehind and again passed between the said needles, in a forward direction, to form loops around each of said needles and thereby produce a striped effect in the finished stocking. As the fingers 17 move forward the lever 15, through the pawl 14 and ratchet wheel 13, rotates the roll 11 in such direction as to put a drag on the thread and thereby pull the loops taut around the needles. The rod 36 is now moved inwardly to pull a certain amount of slack thread from the spools for the formation of the next successive series of loops. The rod 36 immediately rcassumes its normal position.

The invention as above described includes only one stocking knitting unit and associated thread control mechanism and striping attachment, but as is well known in the art, a flat knitting machine of the above described type generally includes a score of said units to each of which will be attached the said complementary units.

As arious modifications may be made in the detail construction of my invention without departing from the essential features of the same, I do not intend that the device shall be limited to the construction shown and have drawn the attached claims accordingly.

' I claim:

1. The combination in thread controlling mechanism for knitting machines, of a rack; troughs formed in said rack; bobbins in said troughs with the peripheries thereof frictionally engaging the interior surfaces of said troughs; needles in the knitting machine; striping fingers for placing threads around certain of said needles; means for guiding the threads from the said bobbins to the said striping lingers; and a friction roll rotatable in a counter direction to the "yarn feeding direction for drawing the said threads taut around the needles.

2. The combination in thread controlling mechanism for knitting machines, of a rack; troughs formed in said rack; bobbins in said troughs and frictionally engaging the interior thereof; needles in the knitting machine; thread carriers co-operative with said needles; means for guiding threads from said bobbins to said thread carriers; means for drawing slack into said threads for permitting said co-operative action between the needles and the thread carriers; and a friction roll rotatable in a counter direction to the yarn feeding direction for drawing the said threads taut around the needles, after said co-operative action between the needles and thread carriers.

3. The combination in thread controlling mechanism for knitting machines, of a rack; troughs formed in said rack; flanged spools confined in said troughs and having their peripheries in frictional engagement with said troughs; striping fingers co-operative with the needles of said knitting machine for placing the threads around the needles; means for guiding the threads from the spools to the striping fingers; a friction roll parallel to the troughs lietween the troughs and the striping fingers over which the threads pass: a bar parallel to said friction roll and said troughs adapted to be moved against, and thereby pull, said threads for the purpose of drawing slack in said threads; and means co-operative with the striping fingers and the needles for turning the friction roll in a counter-direction to the direction of travel of the threads over the rolls, for the purpose of pulling the threads taut around the needles KARL NEBEL 

